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Binance boots crypto trader off its platform at the behest of the Narcotics Control Bureau

Crypto adoption is rising in India and so are concerns around the digital currency enabling illicit activities.

An account belonging to Makarand Pardeep Adivirkar was shut down by Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, following a request from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), as per a report in the Economic Times. Adivirkar, arrested in June, has been accused of using cryptocurrencies to facilitate transactions to procure drugs from the dark web, the report added.  The agency had filed a plea under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEMA), to freeze the account because it was used to buy LSD, a psychotropic substance, via bitcoin reportedly last year, according to ET. It was reported that the accused was buying drugs on behalf of local peddlers who would pay him cash. NCB then wrote to WazirX, after the arrest seeking the wallet and trading exchange details, which informed the agency that they were bought over by Binance in 2017, ET reported. It was after NCB wrote to Binance that the account was frozen subsequently. The case is a sober reminder of the perils of not introducing regulations in the burgeoning crypto ecosystem. This is the first case in India where a government agency has managed to freeze the account held by an exchange, ET wrote in its report. WazirX’s run-ins with law enforcement This is not the first time that WazirX has been under the scanner of law enforcement agencies. WazirX received a total of 377 government requests in the six-month period from April to September this year according to a disclosure…

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I cover several beats such as Crypto, Telecom, and OTT at MediaNama. I can be found loitering at my local theatre when I am off work consuming movies by the dozen.

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